Steel of BRNS
by Enerjack
Summary: Baise just wanted to become a good huntsman that helped people. Little did he know that he'd be in for a lot more, being pulled in to a team with a mysterious amnesiac, a happy-go-lucky and flirty girl, and an annoyingly rude tsundere. He's going to face loss, shocks, a mix of steaming emotions, and much more if he can't pull himself together at such a crucial moment in his life.
1. Baise Shitou

**Authors Note:Hey, so this is my new series on my own OC's! Hope you guys enjoy reading. Rate, review, give me tips, advice, and all that stuff. I especially could use a bit of help on extending the length of my chapters.**

* * *

It was something so terribly unforgettable that just the simple thought of it would send uncontrollable tingles and shivers down his spine. It was that much of a scary experience, and no matter what he could do, he couldn't let it go. This would be his first memory and first feelings for quite a long time.

He had thought that all his senses had shut down completely, because he couldn't see or feel anything. All there was was just darkness. And then, the first sign of temperature had come to grip him. Tightly. Like a sudden storm, everything had suddenly come at him all at once. It was so cold, he felt like he was inside a giant ice cube. The freezing sensations stung him all over, piercing his skin and deep in to his blood vessels, where he could feel his body activity slow down..

He would have huddled up, but he realized that he was already in a fetal position, so he focused all his efforts on trying desperately to cling to whatever warmth he had left in his body.

Gritting his teeth, he attempted to recall a trick that allowed one to temporarily raise their body heat using just their mind. But everything fell apart from there.

Why did he attempt to recall such a thing? How did he even remember it? And then, his mind imploded. He felt an incredible, disturbing, and painful range of emotions.

Confusion, rage, sorrow, and pain. What was going on?

His memories were slipping away...He tried to recall his name, but he couldn't. His whole head just...Seeped out of him, and out the window. Now, he was alone. Not even his own memories to accompany him in this lone, dark, and cold place. He felt his eyes tearing up, but realized that, for whatever reason, they would not fall. Trying to move his arm, he realized that it was frozen in place.

Frozen…

He felt like there was frost covering him, and he also couldn't move himself. Was he…? The thought was ludicrous, but it also made sense and just clicked with the situation he was going through at the moment. Trying so hard to break out, he started screaming. And that was when the cold finally started to fade. He finally felt something that he'd been trying to grab ever since he'd gotten in this accursed ice block...How did he even get in? It mattered not, for he finally gripped on to the home-like feeling of warmth. Feeling it flow throughout his body, fueling him with strength, he tried to open his eyes. No, he couldn't. He was warm, but still frozen.

As he tried to figure out how to get out, he thought he could see something. A small, white, glowing dot in the center of his blackened vision...

And then, something else came to him. There was just the slightest hint of something else, something that he knew innately was the only thing that kept him going and alive for this long.

Adrenaline.

His eyes snapped open, now fully able to see the light. It seemed to be his only way out of his ice prison. Struggling to break free, he cursed himself for being so weak. A strange feeling came to him, and it told him that fulfilling this objective shouldn't of been so hard. It should've been easy...Child's play. The very thought of being beaten by an element enraged him well beyond the breaking point. Finally able to move his body, he let loose a roar veiled with unrestrained rage.

_"AAAAAH!"_

Almost immediately, the unmistakable feeling of exhilarating energy coursed through his veins, spreading throughout his body and into his muscles. His gut told him to let it build up in his body, so he did, feeling more power rise within him. He didn't even know what he was doing, every action he took was merely by instinct. The more he held it in, however, the harder it was to keep a grip on the power, and on his sanity. Feeling his mind slip away, he gritted his teeth and focused back on to the task at hand. Just a bit more, and he'd finally be out of this prison.

Nothing but instinct had rang the alarm bells in his head, alerting him that now was the time to cut open the floodgate. He let loose all of the power he'd built up in one, swift second. All of that pent-up energy gone in one shot, going nowhere but out, becoming essentially one giant bomb.

A giant bomb that exploded.

* * *

Stepping off of the dust plane as he readjusted the collars of his white leather coat, the new student of Beacon couldn't help but let out his relieved sigh. The putrid smell was agonizingly building up in there, what with the unlucky blonde vomiting his breakfast straight onto the floor, and into the trash can. Grimacing at the awful memory, he casually quickened his pace away from the plane once he heard those familiar, vomiting noises behind him following a rush of footsteps.

_Nopenopenopenope!_

Once he was out of earshot of the unfortunate ongoing events, he let out a relief-filled groan. It was finally time. Three years working hard to get in to Beacon, and on his first day, he almost gets puked on. Not a very good start to a good day, but it was a better one than he could've dared to ask for. Inhaling in the breath of the academy that he would spend four years at, the corners of his lips raised slightly. Even after seeing the pictures and spending so much time staring at them, he still couldn't help but be amazed at the architecture, now that it was planted there right in front of him.

Moving on to the main hall, where a majority of the other students were gathered, he stood still, waiting patiently for the headmaster to begin his piece. That's when it happened.

Almost out of no where, he felt a strange force on his shoulder, along with an "Oof!" Turning instantly, his eyebrows furrowed at the sight of…

"Whoa, you alright?" He leaned down and held out his hand. Lying on the ground was the person that bumped into him. She was a girl, and her waist-length hair was green. She wore a turquoise sleeveless hooded jacket(Might have been a very thick vest), and a purple t-shirt. Her black shorts reached down to just above her knees, and her sneakers were mainly pink with a bit of green.

Her bright, piercing green eyes and near-scowling lips conveyed just one message to him.

_'Out of my way.'_

Deciding to keep his hand out just in case, the girl just stared at it. Making a noise that made Baise think of an angry tiger, she reached towards it and, to his disappointment, slapped it away, choosing to get up by herself.

"Name's Baise. Baise Shítou." He retreated his hand in to his pockets, unable to keep a slight bit of provoked venom out of his tone. The girl's eyes darted from the top of his head to the bottom of his shoes, prompting a new but slight sense of insecurity and worry in to him. Shutting her eyes, she turned away, leading Baise to assume she'd leave without giving him a name. He was proven wrong a few seconds afterward.

"Natsuki. Itami Natsuki." Was all she said before walking away. His brows furrowed at slight curiosity and disappointment at his first interaction in Beacon. Hopefully, that wasn't a foreshadowing to how all of his encounters would go. He didn't need any more people to dislike only because of their character.

Turning away to face the headmaster, who'd made his way on to the stage holding a mug filled with what he assumed was coffee, Baise smiled. It was time for the opening speech. What ever mindblowing philosophies, or boring-to-death cliche openings he'd give to the students, Baise would make sure to cling to those words throughout his journey through Beacon.

* * *

The least he could say about the speech was that it was...Interesting.

He did indeed keep it brief, and before it was taken over by Glynda, Baise couldn't help but feel a strange...feeling stir within him. The best way to describe it would be to call it something along the lines of a sudden realization. Perhaps Ozpin's words had a sort of an unexpected over-effect on him.

Choosing to put the speech behind him for now, he flopped backwards down on to his sleeping bag, not even bothering to get in it. His pajamas, which were basically just a white T-shirt and black sweat pants, would keep him warm enough for the night. Feeling darkness edge towards the center of his eyes, he knew sleep had taken over when he couldn't feel anything.

And of course, that rather short but relaxing peace was broken by some small amounts of screaming.

Opening his eyes, he took a look, and saw three girls and another sitting down fighting over something. Groaning, he laid back down and covered his ears.

This was definitely not the best way to start his new day at the most famous and prestigious hunter-training academy of all of Vale. Not at all.

* * *

**This is Baise's full appearance: Height is 5'7", he wears a white leather coat. His hair is black, his eyes are dull-gray, he has white jeans, and his sneakers area mix between brown and white. And, like a lot of other people in RWBY, he's pale-ish. He has two simple black scabbards, one magnetically attached to the back of his coat by a small magnet(The top is facing left, bottom facing right), and another one hanging around a loop on the left side of his pants. **


	2. Initiation

To say that Baise's sleep went terribly was an understatement.

First, it was the nightmares. They were so frighteningly vivid that every time he woke up, he was drenched in sweat. And it was after his third wake-up that he realized the common theme in all of them. Of course, this didn't upset him at all. In fact, it only angered him. His nightmares were all about his old fears of joining Beacon and becoming a huntsman; Being torn apart by a monster of Grimm, losing his team to his poorly-chosen decisions(That is, if he ever became leader), being tossed into the trash by his homework. These were all based on things that he thought he'd let go of. It was clear to him that his subconscious didn't think the same way.

Grumbling and muttering as he woke up for the fifth time, he searched for the clock and remembered that it was the middle of the night. And he couldn't just ask. Who else would be awake at this hour?

Tossing and turning, he realized with regret that the only thing he was accomplishing was making himself more awake and alert. Groaning, he covered his eyes with his arm, and attempted to wait patiently for sleep to take him once more. And if any more nightmares were to come invade his mind, then he hoped that he'd be able to drive them out. He knew that as long as you can control yourself in a dream, you can force out the fears and replace them with something...Nice and happy.

Trying to let happy thoughts of his family and friends rooting for him overtake his mind, he felt the welcoming hands of sleep take him over once more, succumbing to the fatigue that came from his earlier rolling around.

* * *

He knew the moment he felt the familiar warmth and sting of sunlight hitting his eyes that he'd finally survived the night trek until daylight. Not only that, but he'd finally gotten rid of the nightmares. He viewed them, in a way, as stupid bullies. They were pretty much trying to bring him down when he knew himself that he'd train long and hard for the upcoming moment in his life. He wasn't going to be beaten, certainly not by some fake images.

Once he had energy to force him out of his sleeping bag, he kicked it off and laid there for a few more seconds, letting the rest of his drowsiness drain out of him. Once it was all out, he pushed himself up to his feet and stretched, letting out a yawn almost immediately. It was nice to finally stand up after such a long and grueling night.

Wondering what the time was, he looked around and realized he'd woken up rather early. There were very few sleeping bags left empty, and the clock read 8AM. Huffing in slight annoyance, he walked off to the bathroom, the next fifteen minutes spent to taking a nice, relaxing shower, putting on his regular clothes, and to brushing his teeth.

Once he was out, he made his way to the cafeteria and took a quick headcount. There couldn't of been more than twenty people there.

Grabbing a simple fried eggs and toast on a tray, he made his way to a table and sat down, eating as the silence of the empty cafeteria dragged on and on.

Once he was halfway through, something nagged his interest. Hearing the sounds of the doors he'd entered from swing open, he took a quick glance.

It took a bit, him having to squint to fully make out their features, but he realized that it was the same student he'd bumped in to the day before. Natsuki, if he remembered correctly.

The thought of giving a quick wave to her passed through his mind, but he immediately dismissed it after remembering the bit of rudeness she'd given him. He panicked, realizing that she'd caught his eyes and was now staring at him, her bright-green eyes as piercing as ever. She didn't seem happy at all._ Is she always like this? _Baise wondered, taking another bite of his eggs.

He was the first to break the stare, refocusing on his food. Fast footsteps behind him told him that she was hurriedly making her way to get some food, and then get the hell out as fast as she could for whatever reason. Not like it was any of his business. If she didn't want to talk, then he'd gladly grant that wish.

Finishing up on his food, he tossed it into the trash and made his way towards the door. About a half hour passed since he'd woken up, so it was around 8:30 to 8:50. He had to remind himself to get a watch one of these days.

Opening the doors, he bumped into someone and fell backwards on to his rear.

"Oh-You alright?" He heard. A boy, by the sounds of it. Rubbing his forehead, he nodded.

"Yeah, yeah…" _Déjà vu,_ He thought. _Except this time..._

Gladly taking the hand, he was pulled up rather quickly by his feet. Doing a quick rundown of the stranger, he nearly mistook the stranger for the vomit-boy from yesterday and called him out on it. Fortunately, he noticed the differences. The boy was about the same height as him. His blonde, unkept hair was at medium length, going down only as far as to the midsection of his neck. He wore a bright yellow coat with a zipper and a hood, and inside was a plain white T-shirt. His jeans were dark-blue, and his sneakers a mix of black and white. There was also something silver on his back, but he couldn't clearly make it out.a bright yellow coat with a zipper and a hood, and inside was a plain white T-shirt. His jeans were dark-blue, and his sneakers a mix of black and white.

His bright cyan eyes were probably the features that stood out the most. They just seemed...He couldn't find any other word except unique. They seemed to hold many secrets.

"Well-Best be off. See ya." Baise said, and the stranger waved as he let him pass. "That went rather well…" He muttered, glancing backwards.

As the doors closed, he caught sight of a large, silver, metallic-looking briefcase. _So that's what it was,_ he thought_,_ stopping for only a moment. It looked big enough to fit a small sword, the briefcase's(If you were looking at it flat on the table from an upper perspective) length being one foot and its width two feet. He couldn't tell what the height was, his current point of view with its front facing towards him not allowing much insight. And he wasn't sure if the object was all metal, it had the light-gray tinge, but it seemed very light.

The doors had closed, and he gave a shrug. "Oh well…" He muttered, and made his way back to the ball room.

* * *

It would take a painfully long time for Initiation to come, and he didn't want to train because he'd have to retrieve his weapons that were stowed away in his lockers. That left two options: Kill time by socializing, or kill it by resting.

Arriving back in the ballroom, he leaned against the wall and sighed. At this time, a lot more people were up and running around, doing whatever stuff they needed to do. One girl woke another boy up chanting something and running around him, although it seemed more like flash stepping from his perspective.

Heaving a resigned sigh, he plopped down on the floor and shut his eyes. Absolutely no one to talk to, besides complete strangers, and he didn't want to risk a meeting-gone-wrong. Hopefully, he could fall asleep again and just wait until initiation came. There was still an hour or so left before initiation, and he couldn't find anything else to do. The rather appealing thought of training crossed his mind, but he'd have to get his weapons from his lockers and then fight, which could tire him. And that wouldn't be good, since he was going to fight monsters later.

So, he was left to the torturous stabs of time.

* * *

"FINALLY." He groaned, attracting a few strange looks from passers as he grabbed his weapons from his locker. Sticking one scabbard to his back and another to his left side, he took a deep breath and shut the door, making his way towards the cliffs.

It was time for initiation to begin.

As he arrived at the cliff, there were already a few people there. On the floor were what seemed to be launchpads, a rather unique contraption to use in an entrance exam.

Looking at some others who were already on a few, he stepped on to a pad and waited patiently, some other students still not there yet.

Once they were all there, Ozpin and Glynda gave some short guidelines and a bit of advice. Needless to say, it was just as brief yet insightful as the one on the day before.

"Now, take your positions." He finished, prompting Baise to unsheathe both his swords. Holding on in a reverse grip in his right hand and the other in a regular grip on his left, he heard the others being sent flying away before it was finally his turn.

Time seemed to stop at that moment for him. _This is it,_ he thought. _This is finally the moment where I get initiated in to Beacon...Let's do this. _The corners of his lips rose ever so slightly into a smile, and he felt the gears under his pad click and whirl before a force pushed him towards the sky. Baise's initiation had finally begun.

As he zoomed through the air, his eyes darted around, trying to find a target before-

"Ahah!" He yelled. There was a tree that was tall enough, and it wasn't too far away either. He had to time it right…

It was getting steadily closer, the handles of his two swords nearly touching as it did. Then, eyes narrowed, he thrusted both swords to his right as the tree whipped past him. The blades dug into the bark, twirling him around the tree down towards the ground. Forcing his swords out of the tree, his remaining momentum whipped him towards the earth, where he ducked in to a roll and started running towards where he believed the relics were.

"Okay, you can do this, just keep running and hope that nothing gets in your way…" Sheathing one sword in to the scabbard on his side to lessen his burden, he sliced his way through grass, plants, and other poor plant life before skidding to a stop. He heard gunfire, and it was very close.

Changing directions, he ran towards his right and forced his way through some bushes and coming out on the other side. He was in a clearing, and he thought he saw something escape in to the bushes on the other side. There wasn't enough time to investigate, however, as there were beowolves now in his way. At least four of them. One was lying on its back, not moving, near the spot where he thought he saw something flee.

Scowling, he held on to his one blade with both hands, before getting in to a stance. His sword held in front of him, tip pointed slightly forward, he smiled at the monsters, who were edging closer to him, some howling.

"Let's dance."

One charged towards him, to which he easily sidestepped and swung the blade through its side. A satisfying slash alerted him that the beowolf wouldn't be getting up for a while. Two more charged, and he waited, the monsters getting closer and closer before he made his move.

One jumped and the other crouched, both trying to get him at once. He knelt on one knee and pushed all of his weight off of his foot, leaning towards one side. Spinning sideways in midair, he swung out his sword and dismembered the arms of attacking beowolves off, before landing and transferring his remaining momentum into his arms to decapitate a beowolf. Its body falling to the ground, he turned and saw the last remaining beowolf charge him. Bringing his sword up just in time to block, he skidded to a stop a few feet away, smiling.

"Not even a challenge!" He yelled, and the wolves charged once more, arms outstretched and teeth bared as they attempted to maul him.

Unsheathing his remaining sword, he twirled and stepped his way through the wolves, stopping as he heard dead bodies drop on the ground behind him. Giving his swords a bit of a spin before flicking the blood off, he sheathed them and realized that the beowolf that was on the floor before was gone.

Hearing frantic footsteps, he ran as fast as he could towards the source and emerged from the bushes. There was the beowolf, facing directly away from him, towards someone cornered and injured, on the ground and against a tree. The Grimm was about to lunge.

There was no time, not even enough for conscious thinking. All he could rely on was pure instinct and adrenaline, fueling his arm to arc back and throw his sword towards the wolf.

The sword slipped through its head, right between its eyes, its dead body dropping to the floor. Rushing over and grabbing on to the handle, he pulled his weapon out and sheathed it, after wiping the blood off by giving it a twirl, of course.

"You alright?" He reached towards the stranger with his hand, and once the rush of adrenaline had left him, he stared, eyes widened.

"Natsuki!"

* * *

**Authors Note:Hope you guys enjoyed reading that! Leave a review and a rating of the chapter, and I'm going to put up some more information about the characters some time soon, perhaps after the team is formed.**

**Well, anyway, have a good night everyone!**


	3. The Fight is On

Baise wasn't surprised at all when Natsuki did the same thing she did when they first met:Slap his hand away when he politely offered it.

"Uhh-You alright?" He asked awkwardly, watching her stand up and pat away the dirt that had gotten on her jacket. He received no response, although she did give him that familiar death glare of hers. It felt like she was coming up with random, gruesome ways to kill him. He didn't like it one bit, and he wished she'd stop.

"Guess we're partners now." He said, although he was half expecting the other to just walk away and pretend they never met, which Baise wouldn't of minded, really. After a quick, tense moment of silence, a frustrated breath left her lips.

"Let's just get the relics." She finally spoke. She sounded surprisingly soft, yet stern enough to get the message that she wasn't in the mood for jokes across.

Natsuki quickly walked one way, prompting Baise to follow, quickening his pace so that he was just behind her.

Baise quickly realized that he never could have trained or prepare for social contact during initiation. He could always try, though. After all, it wasn't like he was the oddball out of class, or socially awkward. This couldn't of been too hard, right? Then again, his partner was a girl who didn't seem to give much of a damn about him, so, there seemed to be a rather large obstacle.

"So...You ARE fine, right?" Natsuki faced him for a moment with a grimace on her face, then turned away again.

"Okay, I'll take that as a yes." He muttered, eyebrow raised.

Yep, this wasn't going to be easy at all.

* * *

"Oh-So THAT'S what the smell was." Baise said, him and Natsuki stumbling upon a clearing with the corpse of a King Taijitu. Natsuki was covering her nose with her hand, clearly unaccustomed to the stench. Baise handled it well, although he couldn't help but feel some respect for the hunter that managed to blow one of its heads off.

"Well, we're not here for sightseeing. Let's…" He was about to walk, but he stopped when he felt her hand on his shoulder. Turning around, she seemed irregularly alert, eyes darting around at the foliage that were planted on the edge of the clearing.

"What's…" Suddenly, he felt it too. Putting one hand on the sword at his side, he looked around, trying to find the source of the disturbance.

A shadow passed over him, along with a growl, prompting him to side step to the left and unsheath his sword, slashing it through the air and straight through the abdomen of a Beowolf. Howls rang out, and more of them came, along with a number of Ursa minors.

"Oh, this is wonderful." He groaned, unsheathing his second sword, a blade in each of his hands. He turned to face Natsuki.

"You gonna bring out your weapon?" When she sent him another annoyed look, he just gave another back to her, clearly growing tired of the unamused stares she'd been giving him. Natsuki reached behind her back and pulled out her weapon, which extended in to...

At first, Baise just had one thought. Ice.

Most of it was colored that way, light-blue. It looked like the cross between a pole-arm and a rifle. There was a pointed end, and there was also spikes protruding away from the tip down towards the middle, where it stopped(For a better image, think of 'Fairfrozen' from Maplestory). Her hand was holding it at that section, and her other was further down, just above the other end of the weapon, where there was a large spike that pointed directly downwards.

As for deducing how it was a firearm, he saw a magazine loaded between her two hands, and there was a trigger above the hand closest to her.

Turning his head back to the monsters, he flipped his right blade into a reverse grip, crouching down with one knee closer to the ground. Looking as if he were going to twirl and horizontally slice the monsters apart, he waited for their move. Thankfully, Natsuki was doing the same.

The monsters let out a threatening growl, and an Ursa charged towards him. Sliding his right leg around, he brought his other leg in an arc and used his momentum to swing his swords through its ankle. Its foot now disconnected from its leg, the Ursa stumbled and fell head-first straight through the tip of the outstretched weapon of Natsuki, who tore it out of the dead Grimm.

More howls, and more monsters. Now, there were more than a dozen Beowolves and Ursa, all surrounding them in a semi-circle, jaws agape, ready to tear flesh.

Baise was ready to unveil one of his more favorite parts of his weapons, but just as he was about to, he felt himself being pulled away and towards the exit of the clearing.

"Whoa-Hold on, what're you-" Baise protested, looking back to see Natsuki with her weapon gone and her hand clinging to the collar of his shirt.

"Shut up and run! We're not wasting energy fighting all of THEM!" She nearly yelled, Baise soon having to run on his own to catch up with her pace.

* * *

A little while later, when Natsuki apparently felt it safe to stop, Baise nearly collapsed on to the ground, adrenaline slowly seeping out of him as he pushed down against his knees, struggling to keep herself on her feet.

Natsuki wasn't nearly in as much issues as he was, but that didn't mean that she still wasn't a bit exhausted. Her breathing was more heavier and erratic than normal, but a bit of calming down would easily fix that issue.

"What-" He took another breath. "-was that for?!" He yelled, gesturing behind them.

"I was saving your ass!" Natsuki growled, looking away.

"I know that, but did you have to drag me a gazillion miles?!" He groaned, one knee now planted on the earth.

All he got was a roll of the eyes from his partner, and soon, Natsuki walked off, leaving him behind.

Once he'd finally recovered his strength, he pushed himself up and steadied himself, before rushing towards the direction that Natsuki took. If he got left behind, he was going to kill her.

Stopping just in time to avoid bumping into her back, he walked to her side and looked forward, a smile creeping on to his face.

"Look. We're here." She said, eyes locked on the relics that stood on pedestals in the temple.

"Alright!" He cheered, before rushing his way to the temple.

"Hey-Hold it!" She yelled, hand outstretched, but Baise didn't pay attention.

Skidding to a stop in the middle of the stone structure, he looked around, examining the relics before realizing what they were.

"Chess pieces…?" He wondered out loud. He noticed how there were a few empty pedestals. There were probably other people who came by and took one.

He walked up to a pedestal that held a black rook. Picking it up, he examined it before feeling a sharp pain on the back of his head, dropping the rook in surprise.

"Owowow!" He groaned, hands clenching to his scalp as his team-mate berated him.

"You idiot! There could've been traps here!"

"Relax! We got a relic, we can go now!"

This got nothing but an angry sigh from Natsuki, who looked away and spotted something in the distance.

"Oh, great." She muttered, Baise looking at her as he retrieved the fallen rook.

"What?"

"More people."

Leaning to the side to get a better view, he found two more people on a hill closeby. There was a long-haired blonde girl, and a ravenette with a bow.

"Not THAT bad…" He muttered.

"Let's just get out of here." She said, turning and walking away from the temple quickly.

Baise looked between the pair of strangers and his partner. It seemed that the pair stopped to look at them, too. Sighing, he quickly took after Natsuki.

"Hey, hold on-" He stopped, something from the corner of his eye-catching his view before it plunged towards-

"NATSUKI, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" He yelled, his partner stopping just in time to jump away from a flying object that landed a few meters away.

Baise ran up to it to take a closer look, Natsuki staring from where she stood.

"What was that?!" She yelled, Baise's eyes widening.

"Hey...This is…" Baise muttered, staring at the object that was the metal briefcase of the person that Baise met in the cafeteria earlier. Looking at where the object came from, he heard an explosion, and then a series of rustles before the same boy plunged towards him, skidding to a stop on his back just a few inches in front of Baise.

"Okay, am NOT trying that again." He said, a pained expression on his face as Baise held out his hand. "Thanks-" He said, rolling on to his stomach and grabbing on to his hand, Baise pulling him up to his feet.

Baise smiled. "No prob'. M'name's Baise Shitou."

"I'm Ryden Kiri." Ryden shook Baise's hand, then looked back at where he came from. "Hmm…" He muttered.

"Where's your partner?" He asked as Natsuki rushed to his side, clearly annoyed at the new presence.

"Probably trying to catch up. I DID blast myself quite a distance away." He muttered, bending down to retrieve his briefcase and sticking it to his back diagonally.

"Hey, guys!" A new voice called, rather cheery and inviting. They all turned to see who it was, Natsuki turning away and groaning.

Judging by the blonde's smile, and the ravenette's bored expression, he deduced that it was the blonde that called out to them.

Baise waved. "Yo."

Ryden nodded. "Hey."

Natsuki didn't say anything.

"And hooow're you all doing?" She asked happily, Baise catching her pocket a relic.

"So far, so good." Baise said, Ryden shrugging.

"Been better." He said, the blonde girl squinting her eyes.

"Whoa, you look like someone else I know." the stranger said, leaning towards him. Ryden frowned.

"Who?"

Baise realized that he'd had the same feelings earlier. He almost mistook Ryden for the vomit boy back on the airship. Was that who the stranger was thinking of?

"Oh, don't worry about it!" She said, leaning back. "I'm Yang! And this-" She gestured towards her partner.

"Blake." The quiet girl said, a small smile on her face.

"I'm Baise, this is Ryden, and that's Natsuki." Baise said, gesturing towards each person he introduced, Natsuki giving a bit of an annoyed grunt.

"Yikes, someone's grumpy today, huh?" Yang muttered, Natsuki catching the statement and turning in anger.

"Why you little-" Natsuki would have continued had they not heard a high-pitched scream in the distance.

"Whoa! Some girl's in trouble!" Yang yelled, looking towards the source of the noise. Baise looked towards the source, too, but as he did, his eyes glazed over Blake, who was looking up...at the sky? Curious, Baise looked up too, and his eyes widened.

"What the actual f-"

"Heads uuuuup!" screamed the voice of Ruby Rose as she fell down towards them. Suddenly, another person flew towards her, knocking them both in to the tree.

"-udge?" Baise finished, eyes locked on to them as the girl shook away his dizziness and the boy hanging helplessly from the branch.

"Where did…" He muttered, Blake asking Yang if her sister just fell out of the sky. Looking back up, he saw a giant black shape fly across, something dangling off one of its talons.

"That is one big chicken." Ryden said, eyes locked on to it.

"Are we leaving or not?!" Natsuki yelled, teeth clenched.

Baise, oblivious to the new, orange-haired girl ride in on an Ursa and her partner rush in with her, stared at the Nevermore, trying to find out what it was that was hanging off it's talon before realizing-

"I told you to jump!"

"She's gonna fall."

"She'll be fine."

"She's falling.

"Oh, THAT'S what it was." Baise muttered. Natsuki gave up there, and decided to just wait and see how things turned out.

His head snapped towards a loud crunch as a tree fell over, the one where the other boy was hanging off of. Rushing over, he stopped when he saw red eyes glow from the darkness in the bushes.

"Uh oh-C'mon, dude, up and at 'em!" He said, ushering up the stranger, who was struggling.

"Urgh...Thanks…" the stranger muttered, Baise quietly realizing it was vomit-boy.

"Go, go, go!" He yelled, pushing Jaune towards the group as he looked at the red eyes and drew the sword from his hip. Backing away, he was distracted as he looked at a girl and a Deathstalker appear out from the woods.

"Oh, this day just keeps getting BETTER and-" A roar, and Baise was on the ground, an Ursa over him, ready to tear him to pieces.

"Dust." He groaned, the Ursa striking down before getting kicked away by Ryden.

"NOPE!" He yelled, helping Baise up to his feet, who stared in shock.

"You just kicked-"

"Yeah, I get that a lot." He said quickly, before he and Baise rushed back towards the group, who was just joined by a new redhead that was lying on the ground.

"Is she…?" Baise muttered, Ryden shrugging.

"I'unno, she got hit by a Deathstalker."

"RUBY!" Yang yelled, her little sister charging towards said monster, yelling a warcry. She was swept aside by the Deathstalker's pincer, and she claimed that she was alright, but she wasn't. The Nevermore circled around and fired it's sharp feathers at them, stopping Yang in her tracks and trapping Ruby by her cape.

"Ruby!" Yang yelled, hand outstretched as Ruby stared helplessly at the stinger heading towards her. Shutting her eyes, she waited in fear of her impending doom, but nothing came. Opening her eyes slowly, he was greeted by the sight of…

"Jaune…?" She asked nervously, then realized that it wasn't him.

"Nope-Just...Ryden...Kiri!" He yelled, both hands outstretched, hand behind another, as the tip of the stinger sat there, barely a centimeter touching his palm. There was no wound. It was as if the stinger stopped before it could dig into his skin.

The Deathstalker, confused, drew back its stinger and tried again. This time, Ryden swung his arms out to his side and clapped them together, stopping the stinger from advancing. Although unlike before, he was slowly being pushed towards Ruby.

"You-Going to-MOVE ANY TIME SOON?!" He yelled.

"I'm stuck!" She said, tugging helplessly at her cloak.

"Oh, c'mon-" Ryden redirected the stinger down to the earth where it was now stuck. Turning around, he quickly pulled the feather out of the ground and threw it away, kneeling down to look at Ruby.

"You alright?" He asked. Ruby nodded, but Ryden knew something wasn't right when her eyes widened.

"Look out!" She yelled.

He snapped back, and he was greeted by the sight of the pincer charging towards him once more…

...then it was encased in ice.

"You are so childish."

"Weiss…?" Ruby said nervously, her partner walking up to her.

"And dim-witted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style, and don't even get me started on your fighting style. And I suppose I can be a bit...Difficult," she said, as if struggling to get the words out, "But if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do it…together. So if you quit trying to show off...I'll be nicer."

"I'm not trying to show off. I'm trying to show you that I can do this."

"You're fine." Weiss said gently, walking away.

"Aah...Normal knees…" Ruby said, smiling. Standing up, she looked at Ryden, confused.

"Uh-Ryden…?" She asked, walking to the front of him. He seemed frozen in place, staring not at the stinger, but at the ice.

"...Cold…" She heard him mutter.

'Huh?-" She was interrupted by a tight hug from her sister.

"I'm so glad that you're okay!" She said, Ruby choking from her grip.

"Guys-That thing's circling back!" Jaune yelled, pointing at the Nevermore flying towards them.

Ryden immediately snapped out of his daze, and ran back towards the group, looking around frantically.

"Damn it, she's still not here?!" He yelled, punching a stone pillar in frustration.

"Who-Your partner?" Baise asked, Ryden nodding. "You said she'd be okay, right-"

"Yeah, but it shouldn't of taken that long, unless-" Immediately, a horde of Grimm, Boarbatusks, Beowolves, and Ursai burst out of the foliage, growls ringing out as they charged towards the group.

"Oh, fudgesticks." Ryden muttered, hand reaching back to grab his briefcase.

"No sense in dilly-dallying!" Weiss said quickly. Ruby walked over and nodded.

"She's right-We just need to get a relic and get out of here!" Weiss nodded at Ruby's statement.

"Run and live...That's an idea that I can get behind!" Jaune said, following Ruby as they rushed towards the altar to grab their own relic.

"Let's move!" Ren yelled to everyone, and they all took off, the Deathstalker breaking out of its prison, the Nevermore soaring towards them, and the horde of Grimm continuing the stampede.

As they arrived at the temple, they all stood behind a pillar in pairs, Ryden alone with his partner missing.

"C'mon, get here…" He muttered to himself, looking behind him as he saw the horde and the Deathstalker charge towards them.

He shouted, "OOOOH!" And immediately, everyone ran towards the bridge, the monsters hot on their trail as the Nevermore stormed them with a barrage of sharp feathers. They all dodged, Nora rolling and firing grenades at it, chasing it away for the time being.

Ren and Blake jumped over to fend off the Deathstalker that nearly got Nora, and as they did, the Grimm that nearly got towards them were knocked aside, decapitated, or headshotted by Ryden, Baise, and Natsumi respectively, the tip of her weapon opening up to reveal a hole for bullets to pass through.

They all ran towards the bridge, the Deathstalker and horde at the edge of their trail as they reached it. Luckily for them, the bridge was a chokepoint, so the mass of monsters would have trouble fitting through. And because of the size of the Deathstalker, that made things all the more harder for the monsters.

Unfortunately, as they all reached the bridge, the Nevermore crashed in to it, breaking it apart with a wide gap. Jaune, Nora, Ruby, Weiss and Yang were on the other side and everyone else was stuck with the horde and Deathstalker.

The horde was just behind the Deathstalker, who was at the base of the bridge.

"Not much room, huh?!" Ryden yelled, Blake getting knocked back by it's pincer as Pyrrha, Ren and Natsuki fired at it with their weapons.

The horde was getting restless, and Ryden knew that. If they all charged, they'd get overrun. They needed to be distracted.

Ryden jumped off the bridge and on to the cliffside behind the Deathstalker. He waved his arms. "LOOK AT ME, I'M A TARGET!"

"RYDEN, YOU IDIOT!" Natsuki yelled, taking a few steps back.

"Don't worry, we can handle this!" Pyrrha said. Baise nodded and jumped towards Ryden. Natsuki looked between her partner and the ones with her on the bridge. "I hate my partner." She muttered, joining her team as the three of them stood, facing the horde of Grimm.

There were probably more than a few dozens of them. Didn't seem much more than forty, but one wrong move, and they were screwed.

Then, something cut through the head of a charging Ursa. It landed half-way in the ground, and Baise squinted.

"What's…" Baise was interrupted by a cheerful and angry Ryden.

"ABOUT DAMN TIME, SKYRA!"


	4. Takedown

"Where were you?!" Ryden yelled, bashing away a Beowolf with his metal briefcase.

"I told you I'd take care of it!" Skyra responded nonchalantly, picking up her weapon from the ground.

Baise didn't get much time to get a glimpse of the weapon or the attacker, but all he saw was a blur of brown and blue as something sharp tore through the army, slicing apart limbs and slashing deep wounds into Grimm that cried out in pain..

"I was starting to think that you'd screwed up!" He heard Ryden yell.

"Me? Pssh, no way!" A teasing and girly voice responded.

"Whoever the new person is, she's AMAZING!" Baise yelled, decapitating an Ursa and moving on to a pair of Beowolves. He dispatched both of them with a flurry of horizontal swipes, and turned to see an Ursa ready to slam its giant paw in to him.

Crossing his swords in an X-formation, the Ursa stopped as a small, fountain of blood spurted out of the side of its head. The lifeless corpse fell to the floor, and Baise looked to see his partner holding her weapon in rifle form.

"Watch your back, dumbass!" She yelled angrily, switching it back in to a lance and stabbing away at the monsters.

There was no time to yell out an apology, thanks, or a retort. Baise focused solely on one thing: Surviving, and he was doing a damn good job.

* * *

He wasn't sure how long he fought, but he didn't try to keep count. As he looked around, all he saw were the mangled limbs and bodies of the entire army of Grimm, littering the ground. He smiled, then remembered that there were two more, right behind him.

Turning towards the bridge, he looked just in time to see the Deathstalker fall into the abyss, Jaune, Nora, and Pyrrha landing safely on the edge. Ren, however, seemed exhausted, collapsing on to the ground once he made his way over to them.

"Hey, hey!" Baise rushed over and knelt, patting the huntsman on the back. "You alright, dude?" He asked, hoping he'd get a response.

"Just…Give me some time...To catch my breath." He choked out. Sighing in relief, Baise heard sounds of gunfire, and looked up to see Yang firing shots at the Nevermore _inside it's mouth_.

"I hope you're hungry!" She screamed, before jumping out and landing safely on the bridge as the bird crashed in to the cliff side behind her.

That's when it happened. At that moment, Baise had a strange feeling in the back of his head. Something was wrong. He didn't know what, but whatever it was, it made him feel like he'd missed something important. Baise turned around, and looked at the edge of the forest, which was some distance away.

"Did you guys…?" He asked, uneasily. Pyrrha nodded, a frown on her face.

"Yes, I did."

"What? What happened? What'd you guys feel?" Jaune asked, Baise's grip on his weapons tightening.

Ryden stared, and then the blonde looked over at Skyra, who Baise had completely forgotten about. Now that the fight was over, Baise finally got a good look at her. The first thing he noticed was her ice-blue colored long and large scarf. It was wrapped around her whole neck twice, and it still had enough length to reach down to the top of her upper thigh.

Her hair was blue, and it was tied in a ponytail that reached down to her upper back. There was one large strand of hair that rested on each of the front of her shoulders. Her eye color was dark purple, and although she wasn't nearly as pale as people like Weiss or Ruby, she was still rather light-skinned.

She wore a black hooded sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up just past her elbows, and she wore a blue skirt that reached from her waist to the middle of her upper thighs. She had leather boots that reached halfway between her ankles and knees, and on her arms were simple, black, leather bracers that reached from her wrist to her elbows. Her weapon, which seemed to be a navy-colored circular shield, rested on her back.

"You gonna stop ogling me?" She asked suddenly. The playful smile on her face was dripping with sarcasm.

"Uhh-Sorry, I just-" Baise stopped, looking away to try to cover the faint blush on his face.

"Nah, nah! No worries, I get it. You check people out when you meet them just to get a feel for what they look like! AmIright?" She asked, leaning so that she could make eye contact with him.

"Uh...Yep!" Baise said. Skyra smiled, and winked.

"Well, for the record, you're kinda worth ogling at, too!" She teased, and Baise immediately started to sputter.

"Wh-Wait, wha-"

"You done flirting? I think there's a monster coming our way!" Natsuki yelled, her rifle pointed at the forests edge.

"Oh, right!" Baise said, turning to face the direction that he thought the danger would come from. Ryden, meanwhile, looked unhappy, and walked up to Skyra, who had an amused, but attempting-to-look-innocent expression on her face.

"Yeees?" She asked.

"I thought you said you took care of it." Ryden said, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I did!"

"There was another?!"

"Nope! I told you I'd hold them off, I never said that I'd finish them all!"

And right on cue, the forest rustled, loud footsteps echoing as something made its way towards them.

"Skyra, how did you even get away…" Ryden muttered, taking hold of his briefcase once more.

"No storytelling now! That'll be a tale for another day!" Skyra said happily, pulling her weapon from her back. Baise realized that in the middle of it, instead of a strap to put ones arm through, there was a clump of wooden, rectangular blocks that were all chained together. She took hold of it with her fist, and held it at an unusual angle, letting it hang out at her side with the top, which would usually be pointed at the attacker, pointing at her side.

The trees rustled once more, and Baise heard Pyrrha call, "Be on your guard, everyone!"

What came through was extremely angry. At first, Baise thought it was a bull. But on further inspection, along with the fact that it was getting steadily closer and closer, he realized it was actually a rhino. A Grimm rhinoceros. Bone plating covered its head, back, legs, and sides, and one, giant, bone spike jutted out from the tip of its nose. Its red eyes gleamed through the holes in its mask, and it pawed the ground, having stopped in the middle of the rows of pillars that they had passed on their way to the bridge.

"That thing looks angry." Jaune said, worried as he prepared himself with his shield and sword.

"I think it's because I poked it in the eye!" Skyra yelled, pulling her shield arm back.

Baise squinted, and he realized she was right. The left side of its face seemed damage, scarred. There were a few specks of red, and the eye seemed to have lost its glimmer.

With a roar, it charged towards them, and Ryden was the first to react.

"Whoa, whoa, what're you doing?!" Natsuki yelled.

"Stopping it in its tracks!" He shouted, sticking his briefcase to his back and sprinting towards the Grimm.

"He's nuts!" Jaune yelled, but Pyrrha frowned.

"Wait…" She said, and she watched, along with the others, Ryden charge towards the beast with his arms out to his sides, palms open.

Ren, who'd gotten up, realized what he was about to do, or at least a part of it.

"I know that style...He's going to try and stop it with his aura!" He said, and Natsuki just sneered.

"He'd have to be crazy to think he could so something like th-"

"It's possible," Ren said sternly, "I've done it before. In fact, I've done something similar just a while ago in the forest."

Baise remembered the snake he'd encountered with Natsuki, which was missing a head.

"You wouldn't of happened to have blown up a giant Taijitu's head, would you?" He asked, and Ren nodded, asking, "You saw it?"

"Yeah, it stunk."

Ryden let out a warcry, redrawing his attention, and he planted his feet on the ground, facing sideways, arms stretched out in a straight line to his sides. The Grimm gave no sign of stopping, but Ryden did. He was skidding closer to a stop, but before he did, with the palm farther from the Grimm, he lunged it towards the tip of its horn, which was pointed directly at him.

Needless to say, what happened next was amazing enough to shock everyone.

* * *

**Hope you guys enjoyed the read! Leave a review, give me tips, etc etc. I should really work on that other project...Hopefully, I'll get a chapter out by the end of June, also the end of school. It's definitely gonna be a big project, which is why I'm writing a few chapters ahead of time to be prepared at a moments notice.**

**Welp, night, everyone!**


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